I have been suffering from crippling anxiety and depression for quite some time now, which has escalated tremendously over the course of this past year to the point of frequent suicidal ideations and attempts, and daily panic and anxiety attacks. I have been employed full time with my (now former) employer for 2 years, and have utilized FMLA and Short Term Disability (all documented approved by the company and my providers) to seek treatment and attend mandatory weekly appointments. There were 2 occasions in which I was hospitalized and forced to stay for monitoring and treatment after attempting suicide and one leave for surgery on my gall bladder. Company policy allows a total of 4 weeks of PTO per year. Needless to say, I missed a lot of work and have recently been terminated. I've received correspondence from HR stating that I've accrued "x" amount and used "xx" amount of PTO and that they will be withholding "xx.x" (all, and then some) amount of PTO hours from my final paychecks. As all of the hospitalization/recovery was mandatory and beyond my control and the use of a full week of PTO was required to be used by the company during each of these absences, is it legal for the company to withhold the pay for these hours? I would understand if I had taken this time off for vacation or just to not work, but I was essentially FORCED to use this time while I was being monitored, seeking treatment and recovering. I know this sounds crazy, for the lack of a better term, but I have financial obligations to cover until I begin my new job at the end of this month. I need to know if this is worth fighting. Please advise.


Thank you,


Lindsay

I would look at the labour laws in your area and maybe contact a lawyer for free legal advise.

In my area you have PTO or you get compensation if you don't use it. IE some jobs you get vacation pay on top of your wage because any time off away will not be paid directory, mostly hourly jobs. In the Salary jobs I have been, if you have used all your PTO, you work into your vacation. If you use all that then it is unpaid time. It is dodgy to say the least, but it might be legal. I would look for a second opinion though.

If you exceeded your allotment of PTO hours then you have already been paid for time you were not entitled to. So yes it is legal for the company to recover that time. But there needs to be something in the employee handbook about it. By allowing you use PTO that had not yet accrued they were doing you a favor.